


Queen of Death

by fanetjuh



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 02:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17174375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanetjuh/pseuds/fanetjuh
Summary: All her life Margaery had tried to be the queen she knew she was. And then she died. But here she is, brought back to life by a red haired lady who tells her that she is the queen that was promised and should travel to Winterfell to meet her king.





	Queen of Death

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the A Song of Ice and Fire RarePair exchange

Margaery Tyrell had never been nervous. She had always been the calm in the storm. She had always been the one who could think clearly, no matter how confusing the circumstances and world had gotten. She had always been one step ahead of all her enemies.

And then she had died. Outsmarted by the queen. Tricked by a woman who was capable of so much more than anyone had thought. Killed and murdered by a monster protecting her young child, who didn’t want her protection anymore.

There had been nothing but darkness. And all alone with her thoughts she had tried to discover what had gone wrong, where she had taken a turn she shouldn’t have taken, where she had failed to see the writings on the wall.

Until an invisible hand had grabbed her soaring soul to pull her back to the land of the living.

Margaery had heard the rumors. She had heard about the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and how his own men had betrayed him, killed him when he least expected them to, murdered him because he had shown kindness to people who didn’t deserve their concern or care after all they had done.

She had never dared to dream that whatever had brought him back to life, would reach for her too. She had not considered herself that important in the grander scheme of things. She wasn’t a piece in the game that couldn’t be missed. 

But here she was. On her way to Winterfell where the dead Lord Commander had just been crowned King in the North, following in the footsteps of his elder half brother who had paid the highest possible price for the illegitimate crown on his head. 

Wasn’t he more afraid of dying now he had experienced it for himself? Or did he truly believe that whenever anything would happen to him the same powers that had brought him back once would bring him back once more?

“We’re almost there, my queen.” The red haired lady looked over her shoulder. She had her cloak pulled over her eyes, but she didn’t seem to miss anything of what was going on around her. Maybe because she saw things before they happened. Or maybe because she knew that fate was inevitable anyway.

“Thank you.” Margaery nodded and she stared at the impressive walls of the Winterfell castle. 

When she had been nothing but a little child she had been here, invited by the Starks who had ruled the biggest part of Westeros. She remembered how the halls had been filled with laughter and music. And she remembered the bastard boy, allowed to dine with the Stark family and their guests of honor, but not partaking in any of the conversations. 

He had known that the right to sit next to Robb could be revoked at any moment. He had heard the whispers, that it was a shame that he was allowed to dine with them to begin with. He had known, even though his father loved him more than anything and anyone in the whole wide world, that he would never truly belong.

If only that little boy had known what future awaited for him. If only he had known that one day he would rule the very people who had hated him, who had wanted him outcasted, who had seen him as so much less than he truly was.

If only she had known what future awaited for him, so she could have anticipated and wouldn’t have waisted time on kings who didn’t love her or weren’t strong enough to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.

“Stop! Name?” A guard stood in front of the giant gates of Winterfell. 

“I bring you Margaery Tyrell, destined Queen of Westeros, to pledge her loyalty and love to King Jon Snow in the North.” The red haired lady spoke firmly. She had a certain kind of charm that was almost outbalancing her secrecy. No one really knew what side she was one, but she most certainly was on the side of the winner.

“Margaery Tyrell is dead.” The guard replied, but the lady in red only smiled.

“So is Jon Snow.”

Eventually the guard allowed them to pass and despite all the time that had passed ever since Margaery had been here for the last time, not that much had changed. 

Winterfell had always been covered in a thin layer of snow. Now the flakes were soaring down and covered the walls of the castle. But just like in summertime, when the trees were blossoming and the flowers gleaming, the courtyard was filled with laughter and noise.

Another guard helped them to get off their horses and lead them to the throne room in the castle. The castle missed the glamour of the castle in Kingslanding. Wooden chairs were placed around wooden table and the two chairs at the head were barely more luxurious than all the others. But the man standing up from one of them was without a doubt the King she had come for.

“I'm here to pledge my loyalty to the King in the North.” Margaery bent her head and kneeled down in front of him. “And I’m here to offer him my service, my advice and my love, if he wants it.”

King Jon furrowed his eyebrows, clearly slightly uncomfortable with the offer from the pretty young woman in front of him. “Didn't you offer Renly Baratheon, Jeoffrey Baratheon and Tommen Baratheon the same?” Jon folded his hands in front of him. A deep line covered his forehead and he had dark circles under his eyes. He had clearly not used the amount of make up she required nowadays to look as beautiful as she had been. “They are all dead now.”

“So were you and so was I.” Margaery replied, a smile on her face while she noticed how handsome the bastard boy had gotten. “We have been brought back with a reason and I think our fate is intertwined.” She cocked her head slightly. “But why don’t we discuss our alliance while you show me the beauty of the North during a walk through the snow?”

Jon stared at his advisors and they all nodded unanimously. 

“Shall we, milady?” He offered her his arm like a true gentleman and led her out of the throne room, through the courtyard and through the same gate they had used to enter Winterfell and the North.

“Is it weird to be back here in Winterfell after all this time?” She placed a hand on his arm and smiled. Even death had not ripped her of her charm and intelligence. She knew that to win his crown she would have to win his heart. And she knew that the way to his heart was kindness.

“It's weird to own it.” Jon looked over his shoulder. “I was a bastard boy. Robb was taught to rule, to fight and to lead. I was nothing but his accompany and his sparring partner.”

“You were his friend and losing him in such a horrible way must have been hard.” Margaery spoke softly, but she kept the smile plastered on her face.

There was so much pain visible in his eyes. There was so much loss engraved in his soul. He carried so much darkness, hurt and betrayal with him.

And despite all that he had chosen to fight for the weak and the country that had despised him because of the treachery of his father. 

Jon shook his head. “There was no time to mourn. While you were all focussed on that iron throne, we were focussed on the real threat coming to us from beyond the wall.” 

“You were trying to stay alive and keep all of us alive.” Margaery whispered, realizing that this bastard was not that different from herself. 

He was simply trying to stay alive, to protect those he cared about, to give Westeros the very best.

“I lost my brother too.” She thought about Loras, about the fate he had faced that he didn’t deserve. “He too was judged for loving the wrong person.” She bent her head. She had been brought back to live, but her brother wouldn’t get that same chance. She hoped that the blackness and darkness she had seen was nothing but an in between world. She hoped that maybe there was somewhere better waiting for him, somewhere better where he could live happily and without being ashamed of his love and heart. 

Who knows. Maybe Renly was waiting for him there and they would both finally be at peace.

“After all that happened, why do you still want to rule this badly?” Jon turned his face towards Margaery and her eyes met his. 

She felt herself drown in them, her heart skipping a beat in her chest. 

He was the first king, apart from Tommen who had simply been a crushing child, who seemed to look at her and actually see her. And he was the first to possess the intelligence to question her goals.

“For years my family has been watching how Westeros withers away under the rule of barbarians and tyrants.” She spoke slowly, weighing every word on the tip of her tongue to make sure she spoke the absolute truth. For some reason that truth seemed to be important. To him and to the future and alliance she wanted to build. “I decided that if we wanted to change the laws and old customs of this country, if we wanted a world where my brother could love whom he wanted to love and where the poor wouldn’t be pushed deeper into the dirt, I’d have to reach for the highest possible position to be heard.”

Jon nodded, slightly absentmindedly, but she considered that a good sign. He was slowly thawing, warming up to her. Just like every king before him.

But unlike every king before him, she seemed to feel something in return too. As if by refusing her offer, her help and her love, he would not only go against those who had brought them both back to life, but he would also break her heart into a million little pieces.

“You want to help the poor and weak and fight for the sinners who have not committed crimes.” Jon spoke softly. “What do you think about wildlings?” He turned his face towards her and Margaery knew that this would be it, this answer would determine whether she would get a chance or not.

“They are people.” She straightened her back and lifted her chin. “We can’t blame them for simply wanting to stay alive, just like everyone else.” She paused. “But we will judge them the same as everyone else and we will punish crimes committed against innocents.”

Jon seemed to think about her answer for a moment and he stood still in front of the holy tree in the Godswood. “Equal rights and equal duties.” Jon nodded. “I like the sound of that.” He kept silent for a short moment. “This was my father’s favorite spot. He had seen all Westeros and had traveled far south, but he always returned here to think and focus.” 

“Did he and Catelyn have a loving marriage?”

Jon kept silent once more. “I assume her hatred for me was a sign of her love for him, despite the fact that their marriage was political and never out of love.” He turned around and looked at her and all of a sudden he placed his hand in her neck. “But if a political marriage binds us to the right person, love probably isn’t that hard to feel.”

Margaery held her breath. Her heart raced in her chest and she fought the urge to press her body to his. Where his hand touched her, she felt a pleasant warmth making her skin tingle. “With the right person, feeling love comes as easily as breathing.”

“Is breathing easy for you now?” Jon whispered and she felt his warm breath warming her skin.

“Not as easy as it used to be.” She answered and then his lips kissed hers, parting slightly when she answered the kiss without a moment of doubt.

She assumed her proposal was officially taken into consideration.


End file.
